Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, July 26, 2005

In case you have missed this rampaging debate, it can be summarized quickly. When the Northwestern University women's lacrosse team won the national championship, they were invited to visit the White House and meet President George Bush.

Nothing notable about that.

What was notable was the footwear some of the women chose to wear. Although all of them were very nicely dressed, some of them wore the casual beach-style sandals known as "flip-flops."

Depending upon your point of view, the naked toes were either the last straw in a fundamental breakdown in etiquette or just another example of how far behind the curve most adults really are.

"I think many people over 25 are shocked by the casualization of America, " says San Francisco's Charles Purdy, author of "Urban Etiquette" and the proprietor of www.dearsocialgrace.com. "I don't think the rules have caught up yet. Flip-flops have gotten more fashionable. The girls' defense was that these were nice flip-flops."

And they were. In case you haven't noticed, flip-flops aren't found only in the bargain bin any more. Cheng, who belonged to the influential Cal Fashion and Student Trends club before she graduated, says a trendy pair of floppers can run more than $70. But after all, you are buying fashionable, year-round footwear.

That's right, year-round.

"Everybody wears flip-flops in the winter," Cheng says. "Even I do it."

The numbers reflect the flip-flop uptick. Dora Radwich of the NPD Group, an international market research firm, says their research shows flip-flop sales totaled nearly $190 million in the 12 months ending in May. And that included a 65 percent increase in sales of men's flip-flops over the previous year.

In other words, you better get used to them.

"I have even seen some guys wearing them to the prom with tuxedoes," says Michael Wood, vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited, which is based outside of Chicago. "It has just become acceptable."

Not everyone agrees. There is a generation -- Purdy talks of walking in San Francisco with his 70-ish aunt, who always wore gloves and a hat when she came downtown -- that is suffering flip-flop shock. When the story hit in Chicago -- where Northwestern is located -- one newspaper ran a headline quoting one player's brother -- "YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE?"

"I don't know if shocked was the right word," says Purdy, the etiquette expert, "but I was a little surprised that no one in their group or in the White House saw a problem in it. There is a feeling that people have lost their sense of when formal dressing is required."

In fact, asked to think of an occasion when flip-flops would not be appropriate, Gail Fiero, founder of the Internet flip-flop sales site www.walkingonroses.com -- where the new sales motto ought to be "Elegant enough for the White House" -- said none came to mind.

"I've worked on the East Coast and the West Coast," says Noel Gallagher, media relations representative at Cal, "and we are much more flip-floppy out here."

Some think the real problem is the name. A "flip-flop" doesn't sound like something an adult should be wearing. Perhaps because of that, some men's shoe manufacturers are attempting to re-name their product a "thong."

Good luck with that. Personally, not only do I not want to wear a "foot thong," it is an image I am trying to get out of my mind. Maybe a better alternative would be to call them "slippers" or "slides," like they do in Hawaii.

So what should we do? Place an anti-flip-flop measure on the special election ballot? Ask civic leaders to denounce the flip-flop menace? Wood, from the teenage research firm, has another suggestion.

Chill out.

"I think this is very different from the noise about bare-midriff shirts and low-rise jeans," he says. "This isn't about baring your belly. It is about being comfortable and practical."

Look, Cheng wears flip-flops and she graduated from Berkeley in May with a double major in mass communications and political science. Do you think she would have done better if her toes were covered?

"I think every generation has to make a fashion statement" she says. "You wouldn't think it would be flip-flops, but it was. Personally, I would have preferred something more interesting."

You want interesting? I've got two words for you Nikki -- penny loafers.

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